Finding Havers: Part 3

7 0 0

by Astra1928

by Astra1928

After breakfast was done (Thomas had jumped in fright at the toaster again), she went outside to look for the Captain. She didn't have to walk very far.

"Cap?"

She found the Captain sitting on the wooden fence near the driveway, staring at the open gate, tears glistening in his eyes. He was reminiscing of the day Havers left. He was watching from the top window, of course, and being close to the last path he saw him walk just made the memories worse really.

Once he heard her footsteps crunch in the gravel, he quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve and turned around briskly.

"Ah, Alison. How are you today?"

-------

She didn't reply immediately. She was staring at the ground, confused. Measuring up dimensions in her head. Looking from the gate to the Cap, to the gate, to the Cap again.

"I don't understand it." she said under her breath.

"What is it?"

"You're standing past the gate. How are you doing that? Try and walk forward a bit."

The Cap looked down at his feet and his surroundings.

"So I am." He took a few tentative steps, and to his surprise, was not pushed back into Button House.

"This is amazing Cap! You can go anywhere you like! You're not confined to Button House like the others. This must be your, sort of, special power. Like Robin with the lights, or Julian with his finger. How have you never found that out before?"

The Captain shifted on his feet and cleared his throat.

"The gate has always been painfully symbolic for me, Alison. This gate is the last location I saw Havers alive, before the event at Button House of course. I could never bring myself to go past it, or even go near it. You understand the power of memory Alison, yes? It brings joy, but great pain as well. This gate has been keeping me penned in to Button House. I just can't get past it. I know I can, physically, but it's a huge metal barrier to me."

"Cap?" She looked up into his eyes then, preparing to plead.

"Do you think, just this once, that you could come with me on the flight? You could actually see Havers again. Think of that! What do you say?"

The Captain spun his swagger stick around and held on to his neat grey moustache. He thought for a moment, brow furrowed, then looked up again. Eyes bright, he gave Alison a tiny nod.

"I'll try. For Havers. It will be exciting to see the rest of the world again. The others will be jealous of course, and miss me, I hope. But I won't be gone long, will I? Just a weekend?"

"Just a weekend. We can explain everything."

----------

"Worried. About you, Cap. You're missing Havers a lot this year. What can I do to help?"

His eyes welled up at "Havers", and his hand clenched around his swagger stick.

"I, I just wish I could see him again, you know. But I can't. We're separated forever. And I never got to explain myself..."

"Hey, hey, Cap. It's ok. What if I went and tried to find him? Do you have any idea where he is?"

"Alison, that's such a great idea! Thank you so much! I would hug you, but I can't really touch you, and I'm not really a hugging person. "

Alison nodded, brain whirring with ideas.

"I'm sure it will, Cap. I'll book a flight to Normandy for this weekend, and try and find him in the war graves in France. You said he was sent to France after North Africa, right?"

"Yes, he was. Are you quite sure you won't be overwhelmed by all the Ghost soldiers there? It must be quite a shocking sight. I know that you have trouble enough with the Plague Ghosts in the basement."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine, Cap. Anything to make you smile again! Do you want to come back inside with me? Pat says Dance Club today is on in the afternoon."

"Alright. I can't thank you enough, Alison. It means so much to me!"

They walked back into the house together, the outlook much more hopeful than it was this morning.